History Main / AssuranceBackfire

* In ''Discworld/WitchesAbroad'', Magrat is feeling deeply embarrassed and uncomfortable about having to pose as Emberella at the ball. The other witches try to help.
-->"Don't worry," said Granny, "We'll be there too."\\

* ''Discworld/InterestingTimes:'' Faced with the unstoppable rumour that the Silver Horde does ''not'' have 2,300,009 invisible vampire-ghosts backing them up, Lord Hong has the word sent out that the Agatean forces have their own invisible ghosts to bolster morale. It just makes the already terrified soldiers more nervous, because there are ghosts they'd rather not meet (specifically, their ancestors).

-->-- ''Disney/{{Bolt}}''

* ''Disney/{{Bolt}}'' the dog expects Mittens the cat to be calmed down by being reminded she's with Bolt, but she evidently doesn't trust Bolt to know what he's doing because he thinks he really does have superpowers and therefore can perform all sorts of death-defying stunts without realizing RealityEnsues.

* In ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', this happens when [[HollywoodNerd Gary's]] attempt to console [[http://www.menagea3.net/strips-ma3/the_worst_therapist_in_the_world would-be therapist, Kiley]], who suffers from a comedic case of ACupAngst, backfires.

** Later, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/it_is_just_a_mild_craving Zii attempts to reassure [=DiDi=] about the nature of her feelings towards her]]. However, Zii's choice of words leaves a little to be desired. [=DiDi=] can be terribly distracting.

* ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'': Ruby makes the mistake of seeking reassurance about her sexual attractiveness from a gay man. [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/started-to-heat-up Dillon is an idiot.]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/MenageA3 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/assurancebackfire_4849.png]]]]

* ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'': When Han Solo prepares to ambush a group of Stormtroopers on the forest moon, he tells Luke and Leia "Relax, it's me." They roll their eyes, telling the viewers succinctly that that's exactly what they're worried about.

* When Mr. Belding asks Ryan to plan Screech's surprise birthday party in the ''Series/SavedByTheBellTheNewClass'' episode "Balancing Act", he asks Ryan to keep him in the dark about the details of the party so that Screech can't get anything out of him and prematurely spoil the surprise:

* Happens a few times on ''Series/AbsolutelyFabulous''. After something goes wrong, Patsy would reassure Edina by saying something like, "You still have me", meaning she still had her best friend, which would make Eddie sad, as she would realize Patsy was her '''ONLY''' friend.

* ''WesternAnimation/PoohsGrandAdventure'': Tigger gives an unintentional example to Piglet, who is dangling precariously off a broken branch.

''WesternAnimation/PoohsGrandAdventure'': Tigger gives an unintentional example to Piglet, who is dangling precariously off a broken branch.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''-episode "What's Your Problem", Sapphire begins to cry when she finds out that Ruby ran away after their fight in the previous episode. Pearl tries to cheer up Sapphire by assuring her Ruby will return... because there would be no Garnet if she doesn't. And what on Earth would they do without Garnet? And they're so perfect together, it ''can't'' be over! Needless to say none of this helps and only makes it so that Pearl joins Sapphire in crying inconsolably.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', after Haley's been left behind in (the now overrun by goblins) Azure City, Elan tries to jump out of the boat and swim to her until everyone reminds him that [[ActionGirl she]] has a much better chance of survival than [[SpoonyBard him]]. Then one of the minor characters points out that she has [[TokenEvilTeammate Belkar]] watching her back, causing him to panic again.

The opposite of ThreatBackfire, this is for characters saying things that are meant to sound assuring, but those it's being said to perceive as bad.

* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'' has a case that ends up backfiring for both the receiver and the giver. Emil tries to cheer up Lalli's bad mood by giving him an "everything will be all right" speech. The reason Lalli is in a bad mood in the first place is that he's expecting [[spoiler:the death of his cousin from the long term effects of a troll bite]] to happen sooner or later, which causes Emil's speech to have the exact opposite of its inteded effect and Lalli to no longer want to be friends with him.

* The debut episode of ''ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', "What A Night For A Knight" has this at the on set, when Shaggy and Scooby hear a noise in the bushes and Shaggy tells Scooby to see what it is.

[[caption-width-right:350:You're not helping.]]